Mercury dispensing getter devices are well known in the art. See for example Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 50-10679 and U.S. Pats. No. 3,722,976; 3,657,589 and 3,733,194 among others.
However such publications give no teachings regarding the miniaturization of cold cathode fluorescent lamps which are required, for instance, in the back-lighting of liquid crystal displays for automobile instrument panels, pocket television sets, and the like, or simply for lighting purposes.
One particular attempt to produce a miniaturized cold cathode fluorescent lamp has been to use two small pieces of a strip coated with both Ti.sub.3 Hg and an alloy of 84% Zr--16% Al spot welded to wire support leads. However these cathodes are still relatively large and they also have the defect that insufficient mercury is released to ensure the desirable lifetime of the fluorescent lamp.